Team Alp: Popping Pumpkin

This past Friday (5/25), we rolled right into week 38 ... and since then time just hasn't bothered to pause and steal a moment's breath all weekend long. Chickie, popping out to pumpkin status, is now what they call "full term," meaning that he or she could potentially pop out to meet and greet everyone most any day now. Scary. But exciting. Thebump.com suggests that week 38 babies average between 6.2 and 9.2 pounds. I'm hoping Chickie is closer to the 6.2 side, although the relief I get from locking my hands together underneath my belly when standing for too long would suggest otherwise.

We had our weekly check-up last Wednesday. Nothing really new to report. It took the doctor what seemed like an eternity to find Chickie's heartbeat, so after lying there for a good 20 seconds of shear panic, it completely slipped my mind to ask what the heartbeat was. I was just happy to finally hear that light thumping, along with the doctor's reassurance that everything was perfectly a-okay. It seems as though Chickie was just curled up a little more toward the right side of my belly than the left side where she started with the monitor.

Friday night I had a little trouble sleeping. I kept waking up to unfamiliar stomach cramping. I'm not sure if I was experiencing mild contractions or rather reminders of the strawberry cheesecake I had enjoyed earlier that night with Chickie's Auntie LoLo. After a later start to Saturday, Chris and I eventually found ourselves all over Village Crossing. For once we actually came prepared. We were the people we always strive to be. The ones with all the right coupons, the gift cards, the agenda, and the energy to get it all done. Our first victim was Target. We picked up a new bookcase for Chickie's nursery to hold all the cute and cuddly stuffed animals that apparently are just plotting for parents to turn off the lights so they can suffocate their innocent children during the wee hours of the night. How horrible is that? No stuffed animals in the crib until Chickie can successful turn him/herself over. Got it. Our next victims included Bed Bath & Beyond and Walmart. Yes, Walmart ... Actually, we were more the victims there. I had received two of the same receiving blankets, and after standing in line at customer service for a good day or so - and getting cut off by a couple of regulars - we made a quick return and went off in search of sour flavored suckers, a must have in my hospital bag, or so I'm told. Of course Walmart only sells sour flavored suckers inside a jumbo mixed candy bag that retails at $7.99 and only includes 2 - maybe 3 - sour flavored suckers max along with a bunch of candy neither Chris nor I wanted/needed, but after feeling that sense of pure suffocation that creeps in on you after stepping one foot in any Walmart store, we grabbed the bag and ran for our lives! Little did we know that one of the first things we would find after strolling into the Babies R Us next door would be a bag of assorted sour flavored suckers. Dang. Along with the suckers, we also filled our cart with a few items to make my life easier while trying to nurse Chickie over the next year or so, and braved Walmart for one final return of the day. So maybe we weren't quite the people I always strive to be, but we sure got a lot of errands done for a little amount of gas, and that's certainly something to be proud of these days. After refueling with some PB&J, Arnold Palmer, and House Hunters, Chris and I headed out to Lake Villa for my cousin Matt's graduation from U of I. It feels G.R.E.A.T. to have another U of I alum in the fam. Even though we had a long day, Chris still found a little bit of energy to put together Chickie's bookshelf when we returned home from the party. I watched and took pictures :)